The ODSST
by Crembit
Summary: Humanity is still at war with The Covenant and one of the UNSC cruisers have to deploy ODST to rescue some civilians. But when they deploy them, something goes horribly wrong, that might reveal something that nobody can explain. the truth.
1. Chapter 1

:Location: UNSC heavy cruiser _RailRoad  
_ :Date: 28 March 2552  
:Mission: Deploy ODST troopers to retrieve Civilian  
:Status: ODST squadron ready to fire

The group of five friends were walking to their drop pods. Checking their rifles and armor again before giving a thumbs up. "Alright helljumpers. Remember the mission, get the civies out alive and kill any Covenant you see." The leader of the group said. His name is Jan Haak and had his tag, HAAK. Receiving an affirmative from 4 other tags. Labeled FUNK, GRAY, MALI and BRAT. Each have been fighting for over 2 years and have been launched multiple times. "Good luck. And I'll kill you all if you die" he says and gets in his pod. The rest follows and waits for a countdown to start. The pods close and soon enough they see a blue screen appear. "10… 9… 8…"

BRAT was checking around his pod once again to see any malfunctions and finds none. Checking his weapons, helmet, and armor, everything before relaxing. "7… 6… 5…" He heard a click go over the comms from his teammates loading their rifles. BRAT quickly checks again. A habit of him to do when he is nervous. Although he had done this dozens of times, it still was very very scary to do. The biggest fear, is that the pod malfunctions and doesn't slow down nearing the ground. Killing the ODST on impact. "4… 3… 2… 1…" the escape of Oxygen made the tube rumble a little as all of them got fired down to the planet. And that feeling of the miles long drop at such high speeds. Never fades.

"Warning : Malfunction detected : Eject Drop Pod : Warning" a red light started flashing through the small space and BRAT could only look at it in horror. He is going to die here… in this pod he is going to die. He closes his eyes and prays as the warning message keeps repeating. He feels the pod tilt and make him shift into an almost back breaking position. And all of a sudden he is flying horizontally away from the planet and everything else. Into the coldness of the unforgiving space. He could feel something snap in him. More than just one thing actually. He could hear a cacophony of his own bones breaking slowly. Screaming it out in pain as he slowly passes out. Hearing the warning for one last time and the red light is the last thing he sees…

* * *

"What happened?" the captain of the ship was following the ODST group dropping down and say one of them fly horizontally away from them. "Malfunctions sir! One of the thrusters stopped for some mere seconds and got him tilted away from his destination." A young woman answers and tries to stay calm. "We can track where he is going to land. If he does not have any more malfunctions he will impact a covenant ship." she looks at the captain who just sighs. "Estimated 10 minutes before impact. But he won't feel the impact. The pod probably broke most of his bones. He is… gone?"

That statement made the whole bridge of the ship look up "Gone? What do you mean gone?" the captain walks up to the woman and looks

"His Pod was here just a second ago… and none of our radars and sensors can see him. He's gone" The woman taps on the screen and makes it check thrice again.

"Bullshit. Everyone, I want to track that Drop Pod. He can't be gone." The captain says, and receives a lot of "Negative" and confused looks from the bridge crew.

"Sir, we have all our radars, sensors and even our dumb AI looking for it. But we can't find it. It is missing." The woman says a little scared. The whole bridge was a little scared and keep trying to find it. After over an hour of rechecking everything they can. And the captain writes to the rest of the UNSC as quick as he can about this strange missing.

From : - UNSC _RailRoad_ –  
to : - UNSC _Infinity_ –

Message : Greetings admiral. Captain Mark Power from UNSC heavy cruiser _RailRoad_. We have deployed our ODST for the mission, but one of the pods malfunctioned and made the trooper fly at a 90 degrees away from the planet and the ship. After careful observation of the pod, it disappeared. We have been looking for hours and none of our radars can find it. The pod was close to entering enemy territory and then it disappeared. We have no idea where it might have gone, or if we will ever see it back. But this had to be reported. Captain Mark Power from UNSC heavy cruiser _RailRoad._

The captain lays back in his seat and rubs the sleep out of his eyes. "Do not tell the other ODST what happened. Tell them he died." The captain says over the bridge comm and receives a yes sir.

"Squadron leader Haak? Do you receive?"

"Yes _RailRoad_ I receive. What happened?" a certain fear was in his voice. And some gunfire could be heard from around him.

"BRAT has died during the launching. His pod wasn't sealed well and he lacked oxygen. We were able to stop his pod manually and got him back onboard. We'll bury him once you are back." She lied but it was unnoticeable over the comm "It is tragic, but don't tell your squad until they are back onboard."

"Yes ma'am. Will do. Over and out" The comm clicks and it was silent on the bridge of the UNSC _RailRoad_.

* * *

"Warning : Malfunction detected : Eject Drop Pod : Warning" it sounded again. Was he dead? No, can't be. He felt pain going through his body. But he didn't feel anything else. The thrusters of the pod didn't react and he wasn't moving. But he was not landed because the pod still said he wasn't. He was confused. Why didn't he die yet and why can he move his arms… everything should be broken. He didn't even cough up blood when he had expected it to do. He is fully functional, but everything hurts. "What the hell?" he thought to himself as he checks everything. And it was all functional… only his radar was blank. He got it to the furthest reach… and nothing. He waits for impact. Or whatever was about to come. Praying once again and closing his eyes.

"What is this?" a voice sounded from outside the pod. Certainly a man but it boomed. Making BRAT put his sound mufflers up a little. "I did not create this…" his pod moves slowly he could feel it being moved and bangs on the shut door. "It bangs?..." It sounds again in the booming voice. And BRAT knocks on the door again. "Is it a trapped player? No… can't be. There already are 10.000 in there… Need to look inside." A face of a man goes right through the walls of the pod making BRAT jump a little and punch it in a reflex. And his punch was enough to make it shout and pull back out "Do not attack me… let me look at you" That did not calm BRAT at all. He grabs his M6C/SOCOM pistol and aims at where the man's face once was. "I am coming in again. Do not hurt me" And the face is shown at the exact same place again. He had grey hair and brown eyes. A pretty straight face, that quickly turned to a hint of fear when he sees the pistol.

"Where am I and how do you do that!" BRAT shouts at the man who quickly retreats.

"You are in the program of my creation. How did you get here? You are not supposed to be here." The voice boomed again and sounded from quite a distance.

"I am from UNSC heavy cruiser _RailRoad_ and my pod has a malfunction. I do not know what happened but do know I should be dead."

"Did you say UNSC…? I heard that before… Let me… wait… Does the term Halo say something to you?"

"That is protocol." BRAT shouts and waits for another question.

"I know what happened… but how… I do know what I am going to do with you. ODSST trooper." The man laughs which only makes BRAT a little scared, but he fights it. ODST need to stay focused… but… he can't… sleep is… taking ove-…

* * *

":Activating Thrusters : Impact in 15 seconds:" BRAT woke up in his pod again and heard the voice of the pod warn him. 15 seconds to impact, did he pass out on the way down? Was it just a dream? He hoped so. He checks everything very quickly before standing ready to jump out "5… 4… 3… 2… 1…" The same loud thud he had heard dozens of times and the impact that had made his knees and legs strong. He ejects the door and jumps out. Quickly scanning his surroundings for any hostiles. Seeing there are none he takes a look around. A big forest with huge trees all around him. He had landed on something that looked like a temple. "BRAT landed. HAAK, come in. over" the radio was silent. He relaxed a little "HAAK, do you receive?" again radio silence. A message appearing in his HUD made him look up. And not only that… he had a health bar, level, messages, friends, and more. "What the hell?" he reaches out for the blinking letter and it opens. Reading

 _"_ _Dear BRAT, Welcome to Sword Art Online. We hope you enjoy your stay and remember to make friends."_

"Sword Art Online?" he reaches out for the two gears next to the letter and a menu opens. And another message pops up

 _"_ _This is your settings. Here you can decide what features you want in your game. Do you want to turn of these tips?" "Yes : No"_

He hesitantly clicks No and another message pops up _"Do you want a guide through your inventory?" "Yes : No"_

It took him almost half an hour to understand everything and let the computer finish his story. _"Congratulations. You have finished the walkthrough. Want to look again?" "Yes : No"_ He quickly clicks No. _"If you ever need help, just click the '?' icon"_ and from there on, the messages stopped. He goes through his inventory once more. M6C/SOCOM pistol. M7S Submachine Gun. Combat Knife. And all of them have unlimited ammo for some reason… He also knew his location. Floor 20 of Aincrad. And he saw his nickname. "Helljumper" to be the name visible to others. His ODST armor apparently was level 50 worth, so were his weapons. And it required a special skill only he had, called "Orbital Drop Shock Sword Trooper." Or ODSST for short. He had to sit down and level all his skills. He had 100 points he could spent on anything he wanted. He had complete separate skill tree for just his guns. More accurate, more firepower, bullet speed, silence, etc. he spent 70 points of it into his guns. And the rest in health, speed and sword strength. 30 points in firepower. 10 in reload speed. 5 in accuracy. 5 in headshot damage bonus. 10 in bullet speed. And 10 in silence. And per 5 points spend, he gets an extra buff of 3% more of said stat. He gets up, he knew what he had to do now. Get stronger and finish this 'game'. He had to get back to the UNSC and finish his mission. Checking his rifles and loading them once again. He heads away from the temple, and into the forest. He had to find the boss room and with his radar he can see hostiles coming in from quite a distance.

It had been almost an hour of him just shooting through giant grasshoppers and other animals that were attacking him. And he is far from tired. Having leveled up once and spending his points on headshot bonus. And he going all over the map. Having explored maybe 20% of it. With no boss room in sight. He makes a note for his own

 _"_ _This is UNSC ODST Brandon Thermal. I have landed in a foreign location that is called Sword Art Online. I believe it is a game and am stuck until I win. I am currently level 51 and am at the 20_ _th_ _floor of 100. I do not know either I am alone, but it does look like it. Monsters seem to be never ending and there are a few safe spots. I hope I can come back as quick as possible. BRAT out"_

* * *

 ** _So. I just had this idea floating around in my mind and wanted to write it out. I don't know either there is a similar story to this, if there is, please point it out and then I'll delete this idea._**

 ** _Sincerely, The voice you hear in your head while you are reading this_**


	2. Chapter 2

"This is UNSC ODST Brandon Thermal, codename BRAT. Guns seem to have unlimited ammo, but do have a durability. Need to find a blacksmith to repair guns if needed. I have explored 25% of the current area and currently am resting in a so called Safe Zone. I have broken down pieces of my drop pod and made a little bit of a sleeping place. Found two frag grenades during the breakdown of my pod and it does not look like anyone is near. Will continue exploring in an hour and will look further through my so called Skill Tree. This has been UNSC ODST Brandon Thermal, codename BRAT."

He takes of his helmet and looks up at the sun. It feels pleasant, much like earth's sun. He lays down and closes his eyes. Trying to sleep a little so he can go explore more within said hour. Setting a timer in his helmet and relaxes a little. But keeps his ears listening to any sound there could be.

It had been quite a while since he could rest knowing nothing would attack. So the mere hour of rest he had, was more than enough for him. Getting up he felt energetic and quickly scans his surroundings again. Seeing a message pop up in his HUD. "Hmm?" he opens it and reads _"Floor 1 : Cleared! The game is beatable! Everyone! Take to arms and help us advance through floor 2! WE CAN ESCAPE!"_ He reads it over again "There are others… But it said they cleared floor 1. I am on 20…" he smirks "Guess I can try to clear this on my own. I don't want to wait." He marches back into the forest to uncover more of the map.

The longer he wanders, he sees that enemies are getting tougher. Not that it really had impact on him, but he did notice some took more bullets to put down. Getting more and more resources. Some were labeled as food. Others as ingredients and miscellaneous. Coming across Giant Mantis and Butterflies. All who just attack him. And whenever he kills them, they seem to disappear into some kind of data. He doesn't mind of course. Being able to shoot and without the fear of destroying something is the best feeling ever. But he needs to stay focused. 27% of the map

30% of the map and enemies just keep jumping at him. 98% durability on his M7S Submachine. His pistol and combat knife both still have 100%. He is actively clearing the map in the most efficient way. Killing everything on his pad and getting countless resources. At 37% he notices a pop up. Noting _"Hunger level low, eat to increase hunger. Uncooked food can poison you."_ He swipes it away and looks through his inventory. Seeing multiple _Mantis legs_ and _raw nectar_ labeled as food. He got used to the way it operates fairly quickly and just takes out one _Mantis Leg_ "Here goes nothing…"

He eats it quickly and it tastes horrible. Compared to the UNSC army rations, the rations are heaven. As soon as he had taken a bite, he's about to throw up. Seeing something pop up again _"Oh no! You're sick. Illness can be cured when you visit a nurse or wait an estimated time. The time will be displayed in the top of you HUD."_ He looks up… 2 days. He murmurs multiple swearwords and sees another thing pop up _"Hunger 20/100"_ he groans and looks at the leftover _Mantis leg_ "I need to eat 5 more to be well fed… Fuck my life" he makes it quick and eats. Throwing up more than twice, but getting the result he wants. _"Hunger 95/100"_ and the days of sickness stay the same. "Safe zone… now…" he groans and gets back up. Limping back to the temple place and trying to stay away from monsters as much as possible.

Unlucky to stumble upon an undiscovered Mantis nest Brandon is firing and reloading as quick as his sickness lets him. But does take quite some damage, scratching his armor and dropping his health quickly he screams, or for as far a sick man can scream, at the beasts. All the mantis come from a hole in the ground and he can see it also had a health bar. He looks through his inventory and selects "I've got two of them… better use them" one of the grenades. Hurls it towards the hole and takes cover behind a big rock whilst firing more bullets through Mantis skulls.

Brandon expected a normal grenade explosion. What he got though, was something far more devastating and almost obliterated the rock he was hiding behind. He hears deafening screeches from the multiple Mantis dying and puts his sound mufflers to full. But still can hear it, and that is going to haunt him for quite some days. Looking at the effect the grenade had, all of the hole that was left wa meter hole in the ground with bits of currency spread around it. Something pops up in front of him

 _"_ _Congratulations! You completed: Mantis' nest. Reward: 1 repair pack, 7 cooked mantis leg, HAZOP-helmet (UNSC), 500 currency, 800 XP" "Special solo clear Reward: AP bullet rounds x 60 (Ignores 75% armor), 1000 XP"_

"Armor Penetrating Rounds." Brandon mutters softly and smiles reading it again. Only to be rudely interrupted by pulling of his helmet and vomiting.

* * *

He did nothing than rest for the past two days and watch his sickness timer. Eating the cooked mantis leg and examining more of both his HUD and the world he is in. in those two days he saw another message pop up. Saying that the second floor was cleared. Brandon smiles to himself and starts to think what they would look like. Would they all use guns too? He opens his skill tree again and starts reading all the bonuses he could get. He still had 4 points because he got quite some XP from clearing that Mantis nest.

 _"_ _Lucky Bullet : 3 points : Bullets can hit vital spots easier, allowing critical strikes."  
"Lockdown : 4 points : Reinforce your armor, slower movement, but tank a lot of damage"  
"Kaboom! : 7 points : Grenades and rockets deal extra damage and leave a bigger crater" \_

Running through the options again, he thought that _Kaboom!_ Wouldn't be useful until later. Because he only had one grenade. _Lockdown_ wouldn't be too smart either since he had to be mobile. So he chooses _Lucky Bullet_ and increases the 1% XP bonus in the normal skill tree.

Counting down the sickness he waits patiently. "5… 4… 3… 2… 1…" and as soon as the timer hits zero Brandon jumps up and runs away from the safe-zone. Wanting to explore more of the map as quick as possible. He still had 3 cooked Mantis legs and wanted nothing more than to complete this as quickly as possible. The zone was at peace for those two days and now he is here to make it to a chaos again. Running past the trees and shooting unsuspecting bugs through the exo-skull.

And it took him 2 more exhausting days to get the map cleared to 95%. His M7S submachine gun is left at a 68% but functions as normal. His M6C SOCOM pistol at 90% and his knife is still unused. The floor did not have any towns or places to get something repaired. Only more safe-zones in the form of temples. The boss room has to be in the last 5% of the map and he is ready. Leveled to 58 and putting more points into damage, reload speed and firing speed.

"I wonder how many floors I can clear on my own…" he mutters to himself while exploring the remaining 5% of the map. Stumbling upon a giant tree and another message pops up in front of it.

 _"_ _Tree of life : Boss Room : Recommended team level 30 : Recommended Solo level 65"_

Brandon smirks seeing that and opens the door. Eating one last Cooked Mantis Leg and de door closes behind him. Inside of the tree it is one big arena. He sees that the walls light up with glowing bugs and in the middle a beast forms. And soon enough it roars at Brandon.

 _"_ _Meryl Queen Mantis" it_ reads above its head and 4 green health bars form next to it. Rushing towards Brandon and using its extended arm-like swords to try and hit him.

Sprinting away from the Mantis huge scythes and barely dodging something that he figured would be spit, he turns to look for any vital spots he could hit. Seeing that his eyes and handles of the swords might just be vulnerable. Firing 8 bullets from his M7S Submachine Gun, only to see it ricochet off and get stuck in the floors and walls. "Just like a fucking Hunter" Brandon swears diving away from another slice from the beast.

"Maybe the AP bullets" He says to himself as he keeps running around dodging the giant Mantis. He loads one AP bullet in his M6C SOCOM pistol and fires at the same vital spot. And it sticks in midair. A small flicker of a shield is visible and he can see it made a small hole in it. "AP it is" he snickers and loads his 7 shots of his pistol with the AP bullets. Carefully placing his shots and having to stand still to aim correctly. And each shot hits directly on the shield he wants to hit. He sees something similar to a small Electronic Magnetic Pulse blast come from the shield and takes out his Submachine gun. Firing at the exposed vital spot in a flurry and walking towards the roaring beast. And after one full magazine, the beasts arm falls off. Brandon looks at the health bars and sees there are 3 left. "Fuck…" he mutters silently as he dolphin dives away from another slash.

It's exhausting to battle the beast, but Brandon got the beast's attacking pattern. Exploiting the weak spots with Armor Penetrating bullets and seeing its health drop. As soon as it reaches the second bar, the beast backs away from Brandon and a pair of wings form on its back. Brandon takes aim at the eyes with the AP bullets. Seeing they glow a little he trusts his instincts, and was right to do so. The beast had blinked it looked like and was hacking and slashing at the place he was just a second ago.

Taking a quick breath, he rushes up on the back of the beast and fires a complete magazine of the AP bullets at the base of the wings in succession. It felt like riding a giant bull and holds on to the other wing. Ripping the shot wing off and throwing it to the ground, seeing it dissolve. He looks up at the health bar again and sees 1.5/4 is left. The beast its actions got quicker and Brandon plants his knife in the back. Jerking it around so he can have a little bit of grip and fires another Magazine of AP bullets at the other wing. Ripping it off and throwing it away just like the other. The health bar of the beast glows red and again, it changes.

The beast manages to get Brandon off of its back and slams him into a wall. Grunting in pain Brandon gets up only to see the beast was silver colored. "That can't be good." He moans as he gets up and loads another clip of AP bullets. The beast is significantly stronger and faster than before. The claws making bigger holes in the walls and floor with each slash and everytime he fires an AP bullet, it ricochets off just like the normal bullets. Cursing under his breath Brandon tries to get the attack patterns figured out while dodging. And he did see one flaw he can exploit. The eyes weren't covered, but the one claw protects them everytime he tries to shoot. But the claw can get stuck if he dodges at the last possible second.

And the moment that the claw got stuck, Brandon leaps at the beast and climbs it quickly. He had loaded his M7S submachine with the AP bullets and fires half of the magazine in the right eye of the beast. The health bar melted away but it wasn't enough. The beast gets Brandon back to the ground and raises its claw for a deadly attack. Brandon could see flashes as he knew, he was going to die. The claw rushing down at him and penetrating his armor… but not all the way through. 1 cm was penetrated before it abruptly stopped. Brandon looks at it and saw the beast dissolve into data. Hearing a *clunk* and he looks to see what it was. His Knife was still stuck, under the armor of the beast and had caused damage everytime it moved. The beast roars one last time before exploding into some kind of fireworks.

 _"_ _Congratulations! You have defeated Meryl Queen Mantis. Rewards : 5000 currency, 3.000 XP, 5 x health potion, 7 x Cooked Queen Mantis Leg, Cloak of Agility (Rare)." "Last Hit Bonus : 10 stat points, 1000 currency, 2.500 XP, AP bullets x 50, API bullets x 100." "Solo Bonus : 10.000 XP, Anna, overshield" "Level 63 : Achieved"_

He clicks the normal rewards away quickly but reads the last _Solo Bonus_ very carefully. Hovering over the name Anna and reading the description.

 _"_ _Anna (Only usable if gun skill tree = true), A smart A.I. which can be used once, but will stay as a permanent effect. Anna is friendly to whoever possesses her and tries to help every way possible. Making shortcuts through town, to nearest shops, message other players, and warn if enemies are near. She can also talk and project herself if called upon."_

Brandon reads it over again and takes off his helmet. Throws it in the air and jumps like a kid in a candy store. Yelling "MY OWN SMART A.I. WHOOOO!" the helmet comes down with a loud thud and Brandon looks at his reflection in the visor of the helmet. A wide smile visible as he puts back the helmet. And not only was he excited because of the Artificial Intelligence. He also got the API bullets, which means Armor Penetrating Incendiary, and overshield. Which is a literal shield, over his already strong armor.

He looks through all his loot carefully and puts the combat knife back in his inventory. Quickly looking through his inventory and selects Anna. He summons it in his hand. It looked like a phone he was holding, but only had one button. He presses it and the phone-like device shocks him. Glowing blue and disappearing into nothingness. "Did it work?..."

"Yes I think it did." The response is given by a female voice. Sounding like it is around 25 years old and a small speaker is visible in the left upper corner of his HUD. "Never thought I would ever get to meet someone." A woman appears on his shoulder and Brandon examines her. It looked like a small human to him. Same color and looks of a normal woman, except smaller and the fact he can see her veins glowing with energy. "I'm Anna, nice meeting you Helljumper." She has semi-long black hair and blue piercing eyes.

"Same to you." He says and smiles behind his helmet. "I guess we'll get to know each other during our stay in here?" he sees a notification pop up reading _"New skill tree unlocked"_ and Brandon quickly clicks it. Reading _"A.I. Skill tree"_ on the top of it. "What would you recommend I give you Anna? I got 10 points to spend on you." He glances over at the small woman on his shoulder who just smiles

"So early in and already giving me gifts? Shouldn't we go on a date first?" she laughs and looks through the stats. "I recommend you put 1 point in _Clear speech,_ 1 in _Movement speed,_ buy the skill _Health scan_ for 5 points, and use the leftover 3 on _Energy sentry_." Brandon does as told and sees her glow on different parts of her body everytime he chooses something. "That would come in handy seeing your combat past and recordings. You always keep your back exposed, so I'll try to keep them off of your back with firing small bursts of energy" The other points he got from leveling up he spends in accuracy and headshot bonus as well as bullet damage.

"Understood. Should we announce we have cleared the 20th layer?" He walks towards the stairs that had formed and looks through his inventory again. Seeing that he forgot to activate the overshield and quickly does so. Adding another permanent rechargeable effect.

"Nah, let them figure it out themselves. Will give them a nice surprise when they reach this zone and see it already is cleared. And they might see you as a hacker if you announce it." she's at ease and just stays on his shoulder. "If you would like me to move to another part besides your shoulder, just let me know. Or maybe completely disappear into your helmet. And I can also shut up if you want me to." She says with a hint of guilt in her voice "Sorry, I haven't been able to talk ever since I was made."

"I do not mind Anna, I find your talking rather amusing. And you can move wherever you want to. But for now, next floor. What do we know about it?" he walks up the stairs and sees a big door at the top. He was used to breaching doors and gets ready to burst it open. Weapons ready and already counting down.

"Nothing, but get ready to breach indeed." Anna her hands glow softly and she smiles. "This is going to be a long and fun ride with you"…

* * *

 ** _So... Here's another chapter. I don't know either you people like it, or just think it is garbage. I am enjoying writing this._**

 ** _Sincerely, the voice you hear in your head while you are reading this._**


	3. Chapter 3

Breaching the giant doors with a powerful kick and scanning his surroundings. He felt stone bricks under his feet and his gun was pointed at another person. Taking a second look and he sees he is in a town with him at the center of attention. Multiple people looking at him and saying "Hello" and waving at him.

"Guess we got in an NPC village" Anna says silently and looks at Brandon who still is pointing his gun. "Friendly…" she sighs and pats his helmet

"Fine..." he gets up and waves back. That motion seems to calm the NPC's and they move on with interacting with each other. "Anna, is there a blacksmith here?" he walks away from the door and walks to a nearby fountain. Little patches of grass in spider web formation around it and looking to lead through the whole town. Trees with white leaves and odd blue fruits hanging from it.

"Yes, I'll track you there. I do have to say though. Repairing items like those is quite expensive." Anna jumps off of his shoulder and onto the barrel of the gun. Hanging from it with both her hands and swinging like a playing child. "These villages are safe. And can provide a better bed than grass. At a price though" she smiles and disappears into thin lines. Appearing in the corner of his HUD as the speaker.

A waypoint is displayed marked as "Blacksmith" and is 200 meters further. Jogging there he passes multiple stalls each selling food and weapons. But he wasn't interested in anything for a while. Going in an alleyway and seeing a blacksmith displayed as "The Iron Giant" and one of the stereotypes blacksmiths working there. Big belly, brushy moustache and beard, bald and blue smiling eyes.

"Welcome to the Iron Giant. How can I help you?" It says and opens his arms like offering a hug. A bit of sweat, or grease on the brown apron like clothing and some dried up copper near his upper left chest.

"Can you repair these?" he sees a small board pop up with 9 slots. He drags in his SMG, Magnum M6C/ SOCOM and slightly damaged knife. A number of 4 digits pops up and the blacksmith laughs passing the 4 digits

"That is going to cost you" he says with a smile and taps the hammer in his hand. "For 4037 currency I'll repair them." A screen pops up _"Yes : No"_ and Brandon hesitantly clicks yes. Seeing the durability bar go up quickly and the smith gives them back as soon as he was done "Thank you for visiting the Iron Giant. Anything else?"

"Yes, is there a map I can use?" Brandon asks. Anna was silent, either just not responding or busy. Upon getting back his SMG he looks at it and inspects it. Dismantling it carefully to search for malfunctions and anything unusual. Giving it another look he puts it back together and lays it in his inventory.

"The town cartographer should have maps. He's near the gate of the town there" The blacksmith points in a direction and a pinging sound together with an exclamation mark is shown in his HUD. "Have a good day sir" The smith smiles and gets back to his anvil. Probably making some kind of sword.

"Maps are expensive. But… I guess you can buy them if you want to clear this game as fast as possible. But, for this boss the recommended level is 70. And you're only 63 at the moment. 70 is the bare minimum." Anna started talking over the inside speaker informing him "So, I think it would be better if you clear this just like you did with zone 20. So you can get all the XP needed."

"Don't worry Anna. I am pretty sure ODST can take care of themselves. We've seen bigger threats and I still am alive." He keeps walking through the town of happy NPC people.

"Do not underestimate this Aincrad BRAT. This world is unforgiving and even the highest of people can fall to a single flaw. I recommend you clear this whole zone for both your safety by becoming a higher level and other people's safety from uncleared dangers." Anna had a slight worry and anger in her voice.

"Fine Anna. But I am doing this because you ask me to." He saw the map shop in the distance and sighs. "I'll clear this just like the last one…" he walks past it out of the town gates next to it and looks out over the landscape. It is green like zone 20. But has less trees and seemed to have some kind of spider theme going on. "I hate spiders…" he grunts and walks through the grass away from town.

Encountering beasts called "Arachnids" and "Giant Spiders" is no fun. And each of them is more hairy and uglier than the last one. "I fucking hate spiders" He mumbles burying more lead into the skull of the hairy eight legged creature. And the rewards he gets aren't that amusing either. "Spider: Legs, hair, jaws, eyes and poison" All which look ripped straight out of a horror movie. Having already cleared 10% with the town included.

* * *

Kirito had collected it, and 2 days later he still couldn't find it anywhere in the guides, shop registers or even the special beta guides. But that mysterious weapon called _"Type-51 Carbine"_ is like it shouldn't exist. He found it on a rare occasion because he had cleared a dungeon alone and got it with a special solo clear drop. Guns or any kind of ranged weapon shouldn't be in the game. And especially not a weird one like that. He couldn't use it either, because you needed a special skill called that he couldn't find either. Something is off about this weapon.

Kirito takes it out of his inventory and holds it. Inspecting it in a small tavern room. He knows nobody is following him because he has his hearing skill high enough to hear anything happening outside of the closed door. The weapons looks alien like and was going to do some real damage. But then again, who would be able to use this. Kirito is sure he is going to find the one who can use it and knows that the creator of this game has to do something with it. He keeps looking until a message pops up in front of him

 _"_ _We're about to clear the third floor. We call everyone to help in the boss fight and come to the east town gate to set off. WE WILL BEAT THIS! We plan to leave at 15:00"_

Kirito smiles reading it and lays back down in the bed. As the scapegoat you don't want to be there early. Or else you will be attacked with various insults and curses. So he will be there in the last 5 minutes and he will get that last hit reward again. Smiling to himself he closes his eyes and sets his alarm to wake him so he can be in time.

Time flies by when you're happy. And arriving at the meeting he gets some unhappy looks from people before a man speaks up. "Listen up. Some scouts have located the boss room and are waiting for us there. We all are going in 4 teams. Three group focus on the boss' minions and one group will focus on attacking the boss."

Kirito being a lone player just sticks to the group attacking the boss and keeps his trusted sword on his back. People are chatting, laughing, and overall discussing what the boss might be. Kirito knew this already and just walks forth. Ignoring the multiple angry stares given by players.

It didn't take too long with only one casualty, but the boss is beaten. Kirito got the last hit as he had expected and reads through it. "Again?" he mutters silently as he reads his reward _"M90 CAWS"_ and it had the same special skill needed to operate it. People are cheering and celebrating. Some are mourning over the loss of the one casualty. And Kirito just went to the stairs to unlock the door to the fourth floor.

* * *

20% done and already poisoned by a spider bite. Brandon making his way back to the town and sighing disappointed "Anna… show me once again where he came from." He mutters as he slaps the helmet. A recording pops-up of his surroundings. The point of view was the back of his head. Looking up a tree where a hairy brown spider was hiding on a branch. Over the recording you could hear Brandon shouting "DIE YOU FUCKING SPAWNS OF HELL" and a lot of gunshots coming from his submachine gun. The spider jumps from the branch right on the camera with something green starting to flood the screen. "Behind my fucking back… why didn't my motion trackers see it?"

"I think it was a malfunction. I'll get to fixing it as soon as you… *Sneeze* Cure yourself…" Anna was on his shoulder again and looked very sick. Red nose, pale skin and face, Lazy eyes and feeling cold. Sniffling and wiping her nose with the back of her hand she closes her eyes "Please… don't ever get poisoned or sick ever again. This sucks…"

"I know" Entering the town he sees a waypoint appear "I guess the nurse is there?" he asks. But already knows the answer and rushes to it as fast as possible. A short 150 meters. The town is still lively with a variety of NPC. "What did the poison do to my armor?"

"Only 50% of everything is left. But that I think 5-6% was taken off by… *Sneeze* the poison. And degrading" she sniffles again and wipes her eyes with her left hand. "One hour with the nurse should be enough to fix you up… at a price though"

"Price shouldn't be too much of a problem…" He groans arriving at the door with a red cross on it. Knocking, a woman opens and immediately takes him in. he can see the timer on his poison go down significantly faster.

"Lay down and rest." The woman says. Brandon goes through his inventory and grabs something, he hoped he never had to touch ever again. A M.R.E. also known as Meals Ready to Eat. But due to the horrible taste, it got a lot of nicknames. Meals with Rotten Eggs, or Meals Rarely Eaten. But he knows that it contains everything he needs on a daily basis. So if he wants to heal quickly and stay healthy, he needs to eat it.

Complaining mentally about the taste, he eats it and sighs. The visor of his helmet dirty from spider guts and blood. All of his armor was dirty. Why does it stick to him? Most of the times it disappears into nothingness. But for some reason it sticks to him. "Anna. Is there someplace where I can clean my armor? Or my whole body as a matter of fact?" He asks between bites of his rations.

"There should be one on the next floor. I'm not sure though. But there is nothing like a bathhouse on this floor." She is laying flat on his chest and face buried in his armor. "so… I'm guessing the boss is a queen spider?" she smiles kindly at him.

"Not looking forward to it. I'm going to shut my eyes if you don't mind." He finishes his rations and puts back on his helmet. Setting a timer of 1 hour and crossing his arms on his chest. Anna ducking away to evade his arms and disappearing into his helmet. "See you in an hour." He says sleepily

"See you in an hour" it sounds over the speaker icon in his HUD and he sees his inventory open "I'll try to fix your motion sensors while you sleep." A sigh could be heard over the speaker "And I am not going to like doing it…"

* * *

 ** _So... I am sorry I am so slow . I really am trying to write. But life just... won't let me. anyways, I hope you guys still are enjoying this._**

 ** _Sincerly, the voice you hear in your head while you are reading this._**


	4. Chapter 4

*Beep… Beep… Beep…. Beep… Beep…* It has been going for over 15 minutes and has driven Anna crazy. "Damnit Brandon! Wake the fuck up!" Her small body tries everything to kick and hit his armor. With no result. The alarm he had set in his helmet keeps beeping on until he stops it. But he's in a deep deep slumber.

* * *

 _"_ _Where am I?"_ Brandon is standing in some kind of void. Nothing around him but darkness. _"A dream?"_ he asks himself again and tries to pinch himself. He feels pain…

"You most certainly are dreaming… at least. You're dreaming my kind of dream" a familiar voice booms out of nothingness and Brandon immediately reaches for his submachine gun. But as soon as he is able to aim it. It crumbles to dust, so do his pistol and combat knife.

 _"_ _Who are you? And why did you summon me!"_ Brandon tries to shout out loud but his lips were like glued together.

"I am… The creator of this world. And I have summoned you, because I have a plan. And I don't want to spoil it all to you, but you should know this. I am going to follow you. Your actions have immediate impact to how this world will end. And I did not only summon you. I summoned all three of you" the voice laughs and Brandon starts to glow white. And in the distance, another white glow appears. And a second merely 10 meters away. In the middle is a red glow that slowly becomes a person. "This is me… I will keep you hidden from the other two in this room. I will let each say ONE word. This word has to describe you. You three also have a special skill tree" The red being in the middle snaps his fingers and the 'Guns Skill Tree' appears under their feet "All of you have the ability to use guns. They are a rare drop, but can of course be farmed. As one of you might be familiar with." The red being laughs softly "That is all I have to say for now. As soon as all three of you say your word, you will be woken up."

Brandon had to think very deep about his word. Him in one word. And saying UNSC probably won't say anything to them since this world is new and he had yet to find something linked to the UNSC. He thinks for a bit longer until the first white glow moves a little and sounds "Pussycat." It was a female's voice, that was for sure. But it had an accent that Brandon rarely heard in the UNSC. But somehow, familiar.

The second white glow moves to and sounds a lot deeper and menacing. "Machine" it says slowly before going silent again. And Brandon could feel that the two faint glows were eyeing him down. He couldn't see any kind of figure in it. But takes a deep breath and moves forward a little. "Trooper" is all he said.

"Very well. Now, go back to sleep" it sounds softly. Brandon could feel fatigue slowly take over and the first white glow was the first to extinguish with a soft thud. After that, the second white glow disappeared and Brandon was gone seconds after.

* * *

"BRANDON!" It rings in his ears and he shoots up reaching for his submachine gun and aiming it around "THANK JEZUS! You're awake!" Anna cries out of frustration "Turn of that fucking alarm! It is sooo annoying!" she blasts her voice over his speakers and he quickly turns off the alarm "Thank you!"

"How long did I sleep" He asks lowering his guard. He still is on the nursery bed.

"1 hour and 20 minutes. That alarm has been blasting my ears for 20 minutes straight. Why didn't you wake up?" she sighs appearing on his shoulder

"I had some kind of dream. Anna, note this for me." He jumps off the bed and makes sure he has everything. "White light 1 : Pussycat. White light 2 : Machine. Me : Trooper" He checks his HUD and inventory once more before leaving. Seeing it is nighttime he grunts but marches on

"Got it. Now why did I have to write this down?" she asks setting down the last dot and storing it as a personal message. "Because that certainly is some weird info…" she says laughing a little

"We'll find out later. I don't know exactly either. But it means we have allies." He says determined to kill more. Clicking on the flashlight on his submachine gun and activating the small helmet light "Show me the map, what parts I haven't discovered yet."

"Bringing you coordinates right now" she obeys and just sets waypoints over the map.

* * *

 _"_ _Where am I?... last thing I remember… three lights… one red was talking… one said Machine… other said Trooper."_ The woman finds herself laying on a bed. _"Wait?... I didn't fall asleep 'ere…"_ She slowly gets up and takes in her surroundings. Moving a lock of hair out of her face with her gloved hand and shivering "Spoooooky" she mutters silently and gets up. Reaching for her two guns she had noticed on the desk and putting on her glasses and walking for the door. Casually opening it and gaping at the view she has.

Not exactly mind-blowingly beautiful, but booming with other people. Ever since she had arrived three days ago she had been lonely and killing others loses its thrill when you're alone. She was on the 5th floor she had read and was all too excited to meet new people. Squealing a little and jumping in place "Great Scott there are a lot of you" she runs past all of them and just yells "I'M NOT ALONE ANYMOHE"

She laughs and runs past all people like a mad woman and bumps into many many people. "Alrighty! Zone clearing to do" she smiles and speeds through the streets to the places she hadn't discovered yet. Seeing groups of people scouting carefully, which she just blasts right through "Too slow, gotta live a little" she yells at them, but she had already lost sight of the group. Leaving them dazed as to what had hit them.

As she runs past she eventually stops every now and then to admire her surroundings again "This place is sooo cool" she says smiling to herself and looking up at the sun. aiming her gun lazily at something crawling towards her and releasing a blue flurry of light out of her gun.

The small noise from her gun had attracted attention from something… and someone. Kirito was uncovering the map alone and saw that one player was moving significantly fast over the map. If it was a hacker, than the creator would already have banned him. But seeing that it already is the fifth floor and no hacks had been seen yet. It just had to be a player with all points spend on agility. Which isn't too smart considering you need swordpower to defeat monsters. So this person was alone… only able to run probably and not strong enough seeing how fast she moved.

He didn't want another player to die because of foolish actions and rushes to where the player is. As he gets closer, he can see the player's tag. "Laceon" and keeps running towards it. But the tag wasn't the only thing he saw. He also saw, that 15-20 red dots were surrounding it slowly. Cursing under his breath, Kirito tries to reach the player as quick as possible. An ambush was an almost garuanteed death to any normal player. Let alone an agility player would be helpless.

The girl hadn't noticed yet she was being watched by all the monsters and had closed her eyes. breathing in the atmosphere and stretching her back a little. "Alrighty… I need to move… but don't wanna." She sighs and looks around "Oh dear, got myself in a sticky situation" she readies her guns and aims around her. but stops when she sees someone jumping high above her and land behind her. raising all kinds of questions in her head like _°Where could I learn to do that?"_ and _"I wonder either he will break something once"_

"I see you noticed you are being ambushed? No worries." Kirito smiles and grits his teeth "I'll defend you." He says it and after looks back at who he was trying to defend. Seeing it was a girl, which he had not expected due to the tag, and that she was taller than him.

"Woah" she laughs "I have this, Under Control." And flicks her guns in her hands and stands ready to fire them. "Stand back kid, I'll show you." And after she said that, some kind of ape lunges at them. She is quick to act and releases a flurry of blue light bullets. Quickly disintegrating it to dust. That was the sign for the other 14 to jump in.

Kirito has no time to be amazed and slashes at the incoming primates. Cleaving them and shouting every now and then to shove more force into his blade. All the while, the woman looks far from concerned about her safety and even jokes whilst fighting.

"All eyes on me? Good!" She says cheerfull and releases another flurry of bullets. "Cause check this out!" she seems to move faster with every shot she releases and keeps laughing throughout the battle. It didn't last for that long. 30 seconds or so, but she seems a little disappointed "Awh… And I thought I would have some fun" she turns to kirito and smiles "Thankie by the way"

Kirito had to collect his thoughts and looks at the woman. Never had he seen such armor, nor such swift movement and especially. Never had he seen a gun in this game. He sheaths his sword and smiles faintly "I have never seen someone wield guns, in a game based on swords." He says kindly

"Oh? Well, I've never seen such a cute kid wielding a sword" she says smiling at Kirito and laying the guns in her inventory…

* * *

"Anna, How far are we?" Brandon shouts whilst shoving a spider away from him and burying a bullet in the skull of it. having to bitchslap another out of the way and follow it up with a quick burst.

"90% of this dungeon is cleared! But you're taking quite some damage. You are able to withstand it all, but you need to go back to the smith after this." Sounds from behind him. Anna using what little power she has to get the smaller spiders off of his legs and back.

At 50% of the clear, Brandon had stumbled upon a dungeon and since he wanted to expand his arsenal, he gladly jumped in. only to be overrun by spiders. Big, hairy ones. It has been a full 10 minutes of fighting off the beasts and going walking through the hallways. Sometimes triggering traps or finding some currency and consumables. But they seem to be reaching an end seeing the amounts of spiders got bigger and the creatures themselves got too.

"I'm so bloody done with this!" he grunts angrily jerking out another clip and materializing a new on in his hand. He had noticed that each clip is 0.75% of the usage. One last giant spider jumps towards Brandon. Screeching and some kind of poison oozing from its fangs. Catching it with both his hands he violently rips it in two pieces and burries two bursts of bullets in both halves for good measure. Having earned himself a small breather.

"See that over there?" a waypoint appears on a nearby door "That's the mini-boss. Take your time to prepare an-" before she could talk more, Brandon had burst through the door and opens fire at the first thing that moved. Earning a deafening screech of pain and a gigantic spider to lunge at him. "AT LEAST LET ME FINISH WHAT I AM SAYING!" but Brandon wasn't listening anymore and just keeps bombarding the creature with the submachine gun bullets. Rolling away from the fangs and legs when needed and continuing to fire on it like crazy.

"I am done with this Anna. All I want is what I am going to get for this dungeon and get the heck out of here." He grunts seeing the health bar lower fairly quickly. From the 2 bars that were there, only 0.5 was remaining within a minute.

The beast screeches once more and gets Brandon pinned down eventually. Trying to bite through his armor and poison him. But Brandon was quick enough to pull out the combat knife and slice off the fangs. Earning a last deafening screech and jabbing the knife clean through the move, into the head to destroy the brain.

 _"_ _Congratulations!"_ It pops up in front of him. And Brandon lets out a sigh of relief. _"Reward : 1000 currency, 5000 XP" "First clear Reward : 1000 currency, 5000 XP" "Solo clear reward : 2000 currency, 10.000 XP SRS99D-S2AM Sniper Rifle, 15 skill points"_

 _"_ _Congratulations! Level 67! 8 skill points"_

"It's good… but I was hoping for something else" he says smiling under his helmet and taking out the sniper rifle. Inspecting it and dropping it back in the inventory. "Anna, Guide me back please. I want all of my gear to be checked"…

* * *

 _ **So... I have made this chapter... in a couple of hours... in one day... I just didn't have the emotion and will to write for the whole time and it was driving me crazy thinking you guys might start to hate it due to the long waiting times! I had time enough, but just couldn't write! whatever I wrote looked like complete shit!**_

 _ **On the other hand, For those who already know who the other two 'White Lights' are. congratulations on figuring out so quickly. And don't spoil it in the comments for the others. And another question for those who had figured it out. Is it ok? like. I know it is a big step to bring them in. but I just had the feeling, I had to put them in.**_

 _ **Sincerely, the voice you hear in your head while you are reading this.**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**First off  
SORRY! I AM JUST BUSY AND HAVEN'T TOUCHED THESE FICTIONS SINCE THE LAST UPDATE! I feel like I should make it up to you people who like reading this. so... I'll try to work on chapter 6 as quick as possible**_

* * *

"Name's Kirito" Kirito extends a hand towards the foreign woman and tries to smile, so he can hide his questions.

"Laceon. I see you used your gamertag to introduce yourself. So I am going to keep my name secret from you too" she says smiling and accepts the offered handshake. "It's been quite sum time since I've got to talk to anybody."

"What do you mean? Everyone was there when the game started. You at least must have talked to someone." Her statement made more and more questions rise inside of him _"Why would she say that? I've never seen that armor in the beta. Neither those guns…"_

"Well… exactly like I say it. It's been quite sum time since I talked to anyone. Found maself all alóne here for the past few days." She says placing her hands on her hips and smiling

"You mean… you were alone on this floor? The 5th?" he could hardly imagine it. a player stuck on a different floor than the rest. Did the creator intend to do this? And if so. Why would he? Why would he sepperate one player from the rest of the group… with guns… "Tell me… where did you get those guns?"

"Where'd I get 'em? Uhh…. Wow… been using them for quite a while now.. I think… Winston made them custom for me… But… then I woke up here and with nobody around. And I found these guns in ma inventory" she pulls them out again "You mean these right? The Pulse Pistols"

"Yes those… I've never seen them in the beta and even the creator said that it would be only swords… than… why do you have guns?" He tries to look through her stats and shocks seeing her level "And why are you level 55? And what is up with your armor? Those are crazy stats…"

"Well I-…" a distant scream could be heard and the woman sighs "Back in a sec" she says quickly before quite literally blinking away. Leaving a blue light to follow her. Leaving a startled Kirito who rubs his eyes once more to see either he had just seen a glitch. But as soon as he wanted to wipe his eyes again, he could hear footsteps rapidly approaching, and the same woman came back with the same blue trace following her. "Girl in trouble. Helped her out"

"How… that is either some serious agility… or you are hacking into the program" Kirito draws his sword unsure what to think of this woman "I would like an explanation please." He keeps his sword at a ready.

"Are you threatening me? How lovely" she sits down and crosses her legs. Blowing a strain of hair out of her face and placing her hands on her knees. "Lets make a deal luv. I'll tell you, whatever you tell me about you. Deal?" she offers a handshake.

"Deal" he accepts the handshake and is pulled down by her in an instant.

"Let's chit-chat. First question I have for you… How many people are there? Here?" she rests her chin in the palm of her hand and looks through the orange glasses she wears.

"10.000 were there. But a lot of people already died and I think there are around 8.000 left or so." How did she not know about this? Everybody knows there were 10.000 sales of the NerveGear together with SAO. "Okay… What is that armor? Especialy that… core of some sorts"

"This?" she says tapping the glowing bright blue core "This is ma Chronal accelerator. Makes me able to put time on my side. Speed it up" she jumps up with a flash sending her a couple of meters up in the air. "AAANNNNDD! SLOW IT DOOOOOOWWWN" she yells at him falling very slowly to the ground and winking at him. Landing gracefully and sitting down again "Tada" she says giggling. "Now, Why does nobody else use guns? Like you said… this world was based on swords? I think?"

"I have no clue. I actually have a gun, but it says I am not able to use it because I lack the gun skill tree." He summons the _Type-51 Carbine_ and shows it to her. "This belong to you by any chance?"

"No… Never seen it in ma life. Although… there are 2 other gun users, that I'm certain about. So, maybe it belongs to one of them? I don't know" she shrugs.

"There are two more that you're certain about? How? Are they here?" he puts the carbine back in his inventory.

"Dreamed about 'em. It was very weird… one red light that was talking to the three of us. But we couldn't see each other. Instead of people, they were white lights… we were tasked to say one word that describes us… I chose the word Pussycat. Because… I am a living Schrodinger's cat. One of the lights said 'Machine' and the other said 'Trooper'. And after that, everything went blank. Don't know where they are, but I know they're there" she says raising her hands in the air in utter confusion "Now… question for you… Name and age. Real, name and age"

"Fine." He says chuckling "Kirigaya Kazuto 14 years old. That's why the tag Kirito. What about yours? And what is a Shrodinger's cat?" he knew he was going to be here for a while. This girl was… interesting to say the least.

"Lena 'Tracer' Oxton. 26 years old. And the Schrodinger's cat. Is a cat that is not inside the box, but also not outside of it. it is not in the past, not in the present, and not in the future. But it does exist. A time traveler that has no control of where it is going."

* * *

"Quite some damage you took there. Will cost you 9000 currency" The smith says wiping his mustache and offering a _"Yes : No"_ screen. Brandon just taps the yes button and sees his armor and equipment raise to full durability "Thanks for coming by. Anything else you want?" Brandon just nods no and leaves waving goodbye.

"Anna, are there ways to train skills without having to spend skillpoints." Brandon asks absentmindedly. Starting to jog around through town.

"Yes. for instance, you're training your agility now by jogging like this. Also your resistance a little but it goes slow. Skill points are commonly used to up stats like swordpower, resistance and swing speed. But… I guess you don't really need those since you'll just be blasting 'em with your guns. Resistance is trainable by just doing this, although it goes very very slowly… And since the game is based around swords… I doubt there will be shooting ranges."

"Thanks Anna. Do you eat?" he looks at her on his shoulder through the visor of his helmet. Still jogging and ignoring all the NPC's that wave at him. He sees a blush appear on her face

"Already asking your girl out for dinner." She says giggling "Yes I do eat. But don't need it. it is like a treat. But it does make me have to go to the little room. Also known as, shuts me down for a couple of minutes"

"What do you prefer" He says absentmindedly continuing his military routine.

"Hmm… pasta's… I don't know why… but I think I'll enjoy pasta's… or maybe just salad? Nah… what about steak? Or…" Brandon had already zoned out and only gave slight 'uh huh…' and 'yea'

He was a little lost in thought he wants to clear this floor, but some part of him also didn't want to. Fear was the main factor. He didn't want to have to face those horrible creatures anymore. But if he wanted to get more equipment to get out of here, he had to. If the rest would catch up, it would be a bit of a problem because people will be clearing dungeons and contesting bosses in large groups. "Anna, Dinner later. I want to clear this floor" he says harsh. Earning him a disappointed 'Aww' from his A.I.

"Making me excited and then shutting it down. Pretty mean you know" she sighs and dissolves to dust to reappear as a speaker in his helmet "Yell my name if you need me. I am going to try find out either I can contact another player. Maybe even that 'Pussycat' and 'Machine' you were talking about" Brandon grunts and just jogs out of the town, to explore more of the map. 50% to go.

* * *

At 75% of the map Brandon is once again exhausted and annoyed. Having found nothing but forest and thousands of spiders. He spends way too many bullets on killing them. He keeps shooting to ensure they are dead. He did take quite some damage and would have been dead if it weren't for the overshield he had gotten from defeating the mantis. If his armor was going to go down at this rate, he would run out of currency. So he either had to get more armor, other types. Or find a way to farm more currency fast. His weapons repairing costs less, which is lucky for him, but a sword would be a better addition instead of a knife. Maybe…

"Brandon, I'm getting a real weird signal. Should we follow it?" It sounds from over the helmet speakers. A waypoint appearing on the map that had not been discovered yet. Brandon wants to take it and without saying anything just walks towards it. "I guess we're checking it out then."

Arriving at the marked place. He doesn't see anything special. Just more trees and on the way he had to put some spiders down. But… that's it. "Brandon…" it softly sounds "I don't like this… the game Is known to have some traps..." Anna appears on his shoulder. Ready to assist him in battle. Brandon takes carefull steps and points his gun everytime he turns. Examining the area.

"Anna, look in the trees." He commands. Looking around the place for something. This waypoint did not appear out of nowhere. Activating nightvision, his surroundings start giving a faint white glow. Some spiders crawling in the distance glowing red. And one yellow object.

"Brandon? What's that?" she points at the one yellow glowing object. A helmet, cracked and broken. Impaled by a tree branch. The branch growing out of the front where a massive hole was cracking the visor. But the most important part, it was UNSC. To be more specific, a Spartan helmet. Probably Mark – V.

"Helmet… and I'm taking it with me" yanking the whole tree branch down and breaking it. grabbing the helmet and stuffing it in his inventory.

 _"_ _Item acquired : Spartan Helmet"_

It notifies him in the corner of his screen. "Anna. quickest way back. Now" he says harsh. "I don't want to spend any more time in this forest than needed."

"Already on it Brandon" she quickly says and sets waypoints through the forest. "I do want an explanation why you are so commanding all of a sudden" she says jokingly

"Next time." He says without emotion and sprints from waypoint to waypoint. As soon as he touched that helmet it send shivers down his spine. And he just knew… he knew he was being watched. By what was the only question remaining. And he did not want to find out.

Not yet to say the least…

* * *

The creator, some see him as a hero for making this experience. Some see him as a demon because of the death penalty. He can watch the game from his throne and command every dumb and smart A.I. there is. But only 4 screens are up he is looking at. One is looking at Kirigaya Kazuto. The other at Lena Oxton. On his left the screen with Brandon Thermal. And on his right a screen that did not move an inch. It seemed high off the ground. somewhere in a white room. No windows and one big white door. "About time… I wake him up…" a smirk forming on his face. "My warrior… its time… I will train you until you are the strongest amongst all. And then…"

* * *

 _ **So... Yea... I hope you enjoyed this chapter  
Sincerely, the voice you hear in your head while you are reading this.  
**_


	6. Chapter 6

"Okay… let me get this in one go… You are Lena Oxton. A pilot that volunteered to use a new aircraft called the Slipstream. But during the process something went wrong and your 'time' got messed up. Since that accident you were a living ghost. Your friend Winston made that blue core on your chest that functions as an anchor to keep you in one time. But it malfunctioned and you ended up here… together with your twin guns and you have been fighting in this zone. You were level 50 when you came here and the only thing you remember when your device malfunctioned is a low loud voice of a man and complete darkness." Kirito sums it all up and pinches the bridge of his nose. Sighing as he takes in all the information

"Yup, pretty much it" she yelps and sits cross-legged on a rock. Looking down at the black haired sword wielder. "And you are telling me… this is a massive game world which got 10.000 people stuck in it. And if you die, you die for good. I find that rather hard to believe… but I guess time-traveling Tracer isn't something you see every day either."

"I… don't know what to say. Both because it is hard to believe. And if it is true... it might mean the other gun wielders are also people from your organization. You said there were three." Kirito stands up and looks around. Up at the sky and sees it is almost nighttime. He had been talking for quite some time "We should get back to the town."

"I know it might be hard to believe… but really? Didn't you see it in the newspapers? About the Slipstream incident? That is pretty weird… but I guess you just didn't catch word of It." she gets up and stretches. Making soft moans as she hears multiple cracks "Hmm... yea we should. Was nice talking to you Kirito, Friends?" she looks at him expectantly.

He had already raised his menu and preparing to send a friend invitation. "Friends." He says with a reassuring smile. And the message pops up in front of Lena

 _"_ _Friend invitation : Kirito : Yes/No"_

She quickly presses yes and his name moves over her menu to a 'friends' box. "Hey, make sure to get me involved in those boss fights. I want those rewards." She says with a thumb sticking up and a toothy smile.

"Will do. Although I am not that loved by the rest. I made myself a scapegoat for the deaths that have happened yet. Because I am a beta-tester and should have warned them" he smiles walking back to the town.

"See ya" she says zipping past him through the forest and towards the town. Making him chuckle and walk relaxed through the forest.

"She will be a game changer…"

* * *

"Anna, I can spend 4 points to you. You decide what." He had repaired and geared up again. Costing him quite a bit, but manageable. He's walking through looking for some kind of restaurant or anything that sells food. He wanted to treat her for how harsh he was reacting and how good of a companion she had been.

"Can you make that five? I have an idea" she sounds excited over the small speaker in his helmet.

"Fine…" as soon as those words escape his lips, he sees small notifications

 _"_ _Skill : Size upgraded, Skill : Size upgraded, Skill : Size upgraded, Skill : Looks upgraded, Skill : Looks upgraded"_

And only mere moments later she appears before him. Standing at maybe 5'6 and more color to herself. Looking at his visor and with short blonde hair and a pretty concealing and baggy shirt. Black jeans and black shoes. Rosy cheeks and black glasses. "Well..." she says hesitantly making what looks like a blush "What do you think?..."

"You're nice" he says making a light chuckle. "But you really didn't have to try and impress me." He pats her head "I appreciate it though. Where did you want to get something to eat?" he walks on.

"Thanks. And I'll set a waypoint." A small mark appearing in Brandon's visor and leading the way. "I just wanted… to be around the same size as you… so I can actually be of help. I have read through my own skill tree and I am an A.I. that apparently can battle. So if you go far enough in my skill you'll get a sword fighting, gun firing, thrash word yelling companion for life." She giggles

"Appreciated Anna." he smiles behind his visor and pats her back "I'd really like a companion. Especially one intelligent like you." Cutting off the conversation and a comfortable silence follows. Anna's blush still visible. This game wouldn't let you hide emotion. One of the things Brandon hated.

"… I should apologize for my rude behavior in the forest. I have a phobia for spiders and just want to get away from them as quick as possible… which causes me to have a short fuse and be a little angry for no reason. So… Sorry for how I acted Anna, I should have treated you with more respect." He sighs mentally _'That is off of my chest'_

"Apology accepted BRAT. I understand and appreciate your honesty. And, I also love how much of a gentlemen you are to take me out."

"Stop mentioning it or I am going to start eating M.R.E." he grumbles and walks on towards the only restaurant in town. Serving all kinds of spider themed foods… great…

* * *

Today had been great for Lena, cause she made a new friend. Pretty young, but fun to talk with. He seemed interested in me… well I should be used to that by now, but still it is so fun to have people liking you or show interest. Now I sort of know what and Lucio must feel whenever they are performing. Only his presence made me feel like I was some kind of cele-

Lena's strain of thoughts were cut off by someone who had bumped into her. She did not move an inch, but the one running into her had launched him/herself back a bit. The quick apology sounded femine and scared, like she was running from something. "COME BACK YOU FALSE TRADER!" it sounds from a couple of meters away. The girl picked herself of the ground and runs past Lena out of sight within seconds. Three men quickly approach Lena, each having some kind of symbol. A sword going diagonally through a moon. "WHERE DID THAT LITTLE THIEF GO?"

"Well… Depends" Lena says crossing her arms and looking at the three men. Her brown ruffled hair falling down a little over her ski goggles. But instead of a normal answer, she gets pushed out of the way and the men continue their chase. Knocked off balance and a little bewildered of what had actually happened she sees the men dashing in the same alley as the girl did… It didn't take very long for her to make a decision and speeds after the men to try and get to the girl.

It didn´t take very long for the men to catch up with the small girl. Unfortunate for her, the alley was a dead end and the men start cornering her. "Give us back our money you swindler! Or we will personally drag you out in the open and Murder you like the scum you are!" One of the men shouts holding her by her neck. They can't hurt her inside the cities, but can push her around. Lena could only watch what was happening. If she would go and save the girl, she would make possible new enemies. But if she wouldn't, the girl would most likely die.

Lena knows what to do, wait for them to get outside and threaten them there, or grab the girl before they hit her. They were already forcing her to the edge of the town ignoring her cries of mercy.

Once they were outside of the town, two of the three men held her tight and the third grabs his sword from his side. "I am going to enjoy stabbing you to little bits" He raises his sword and strikes it down quickly, only for his blade to connect with the hand of his comrade. And a manly scream erupts. "Where'd that shit go!" the one holding his sword shouts, ignoring the cries of pain from his friend.

Lena had to clutch it, pulling one man so the girl was out of the swords reach, swiftly shoot the other man's hand to release the girl, grab said girl and rush out of their in whichever direction momentum carried her. And it went flawless, leaving the men dumbstruck and hurt, with the girl unharmed and shaking in Lena's arms, trying to comprehend what happened.

"Don' worry luv, I got you" she says quickly, continuing with regular running to prevent the girl from getting nausea. She gets no reaction out of her, except for inaudible stuttering and heavy breathing. Lena makes her way to another gate in the town and drops her off there. "Next time, I won't be there probably. So take care luv" she hugs the girl quickly and leaves. The last thing she could hear was a mere thanks coming from her.

Adrenaline rushing through her, she runs through town. Getting weird looks from the ones she passes, but they ignore her. She was reaching for the Tavern she had made her home. She needs a break, this was a bit too much for her. Stress can take a toll on anyone. Reaching said Tavern, she checks the timer and sees she has 8 hours of time left that she rented. After that, she would have to rent it again for a day or so. Locking herself in her room and flopping down on the bed she looks at the ceiling. "Come on Tracer… You have done this many times before! Why is it so stressful now!" she groans and bangs the back of her head on the wooden bedframe.

* * *

Anna was walking away happily from the restaurant. Laughing at Brandon his misery. Brandon was trying not to throw up what he had just consumed. As he had guessed, all kinds of spider themed foods. All of which looked like it was alive. "Never again… am I going there… Pinpoint me to a location I haven't discovered yet. I need to kill"

"Oh come on, it wasn't that ba-" She is quickly shut up by a death glare from Brandon. "Waypoint. Now Anna."

"On it… Right that way." She disappears into data and becomes a little speaker in his helmet. A waypoint appearing and guiding him back deep into the forest.

"I want to get out of here, Today." Brandon breaks into a sprint, grabbing his Submachine gun out of his inventory and magnum holstered by his side. Checking everything once again and satisfied with his systems, he lets loose the first flurry of bullets to hit a spider dead center.

"Brandon, Keep track of the durability will you? You can't just shoot everything."

"I don't care…" another flurry of bullets fires from the still smoking gun.

It took a short half hour for Brandon to reach the undiscovered part of the map. Clearing it out within 15 minutes with run and gun tactics. Stumbling upon a menacing cave with a giant door in front of it. The door has all kinds of decorations. Jaws popping out of it, cobwebs covering the handles, big red spider like eyes all around it and one giant spider statue looking ready to jump away at any given time. It smells like ammonia and thick bleach. As Brandon slowly gets closer, a message pops up

 _"_ _Boss room: Recommended group size : 35. Recommended average lvl: 30. Recommended solo lvl: 70. Warning! Solo clear toughness: Brutal"_

Brandon walks towards it, only to be stopped by Anna. "Think about it Brandon! I know you want to leave, but you might not be ready yet."

"I am going in. No matter what." He pushes open the door and enters a cold and dark room. Illuminated with blue lighted candles and the floor is covered in tiny spiders and cobwebs. It slowly gets brighter and in the distance is a big cobweb cocoon. Exploding and revealing a spider coming just near Brandon's chest. It screeches loudly and one health bar appears.

It only took a short moment for Brandon to load his gun with a normal magazine and start firing. Trying to trigger its attacks to figure out a pattern. But what surprised him, is how much damage his guns actually did. Melting the health bar to zero in two clips. The spider lays dead on the ground, on his back and legs upwards. "Was it this easy?..." Brandon dares to think the same as Anna did. Until his motion sensor picks up an entity. Filling up nearly the whole sensor. As a reflex Brandon dive rolls to the side, and was just quick enough to dodge a giant spider dropping from the ceiling. Screeching ear deafening hard and spewing venomous spit all around it.

 _"_ _Queen Arania, Enraged by the death of her husband"_ as the message finishes, an arrow points at the flattened under her spider Brandon had just killed.

"Oh yea… Female spiders are bigger than their male counterpart…" Brandon looks at the beast and feels a shiver of fear go over his back. He cocks his Submachine gun full with a normal clip again and aims at the queen. 4 health bars appearing. "That's more like it."

The first flurry of bullets digs only a millimeter into its skin and barely scrapes the health bar. Making it screech in anger and start with its first attack. It lunges forward and Brandon breaks into a sprint to avoid its venom dripping fangs. One little drop hits the overshield and Brandon winces as his shields drop from 200%, to 160%.

"Anna? Weak spots maybe?" He asks as he continues circling the spider. Its backside might be a weakness, and its legs have weak joints. So…

"Concentrate fire on its fangs!" What Anna said shook Brandon from his thoughts. He sees the fangs light up in his HUD and aims his submachine gun at it. Releasing a short burst of bullets and seeing them impact. Earning another deafening screech from the beast and its health bar drops by 10%.

Switching mags from normal bullets to the API (Armor Penetrating Incendiary) bullets, he places his shots very carefully and only shoots when he gets a clear shot. Every burst of 6 bullets drops it by 10%. After firing a total of 51 bullets, the first health bar is gone and it's fangs break to little pieces. Pure venom dripping out of it and onto the floor. And due to the Incendiary part of the bullets, it becomes a thick green gas throughout the room. Damaging Brandon his shields slowly with 1% per 5 seconds. So, he had less than 15 minutes or so until he's dead.

"Attack its legs. Should weaken him enough for you to give a killing blow." Anna sounds over the speakers."

"Would be very fucking easy if I could see Anna." the motion tracker on the sensor only told him where it was, but no details.

"Just aim for the damn legs when you see them!" She shouts over the speaker and grows frustrated. Just doing what has been told, he carefully dodges. Only seeing what is 1 meter in front of him. Burying bullets into the skin and hoping it does damage.

Anna had made a timer in the top left corner and keeps counting down. Reaching the ten minute mark, he hears another screech and hopes he did well. After he heard no more real movement, he knew he did well. He carefully shoots around him to see where the beast is resting and follows the cries of pain it is emitting. Slowly nearing it and soon enough seeing the beast up really close. Thick hair and beady eyes looking at him. Its legs scattered across the ground and decomposing, adding to the smell. The beast tries to spit, but can't anymore since his fangs with venom were destroyed. It was as Brandon's mercy now.

It didn't take very long for him to find a proper way to end it, and grabs the small combat knife he used to kill the Mantis Queen with. He jabs it in one of the eight eyes the creature has and keeps stabbing it through every one of them. Leaving it deep inside of the last eye and using whatever force he had to drive it deeper inside. Seeing it evaporate into data and another message pop up.

 _"_ _Congratulations! You have defeated Queen Arania! Rewards : 7000 currency, 4000 XP, 4 Health potion, 8 spider legs, 8 spider eyes, 1 spider venom vial, Boots of protection (Common)." "Last hit Bonus: 5 stat points, 2000 currency, 3000 XP, API Bullets x 150." "Solo Bonus: 13.000 XP, 10 stat points, Repair kit (Limited usage 1), Nikana Prime (Modded)"_

"Nikana Prime?..."

* * *

 **So... I hope you enjoyed this chapter... and... Please don't hate me for not updating anything. Life has been a bit of hectic. Anyway, Internet cookies for those who can already tell who the last unintroduced character is. But don't spoil it in the comments :3**

 **Sincerely, The voice you hear in your head while you are reading this.**


	7. Chapter 7

"Nikana Prime…" Brandon holds it carefully. A decorated golden like blade with very fine details. Along with a sheath. "Well… I guess I could use a sword… might be worth a lot of money too." He keeps observing it silently and sheaths it on his back. Fitting perfectly.

"Brandon?" It sounds over his coms "Should we notify the people about our presence at the 21th floor?" she shows him an email notification ready to be sent to everyone.

"Not yet, next floor maybe. Or until they catch up with us." Brandon walks up the newly formed stairs and looks up at the door in front of him. "Before we go… Anna, delete all the spider legs and eyes from my inventory. I want no reminder of this place, ever again."

"On it" Anna quickly says and sees messages pop up about deletion. Relieved they are gone he lays his feet on the door. Submachine gun ready to fire and taking deep breaths.

Crashing the door open, and startling NPCs Brandon aims around and lowers his gun after seeing nothing noteworthy. It was another town… or… very small town… more like a hamlet. Just a couple of houses in an open plains with some shops built. The door in the middle of the village disappeared scaring Brandon.

"Anna! How do I get back to the last floor!" he looks behind him. Nothing of the door was left. Only a neatly shaped pile of rocks… slowly… forming.

"Uhm, what you are seeing Brandon, is a teleport gate being made. That is your way to travel from now on. You can even go back to the 20th floor. And maybe… even the 5th floor! We can contact the others!" Anna yelps excited.

"No, I am going forward only. Maybe go back to that smith every now and then. Only if needed." He watches as the gate activates and a portal forms in the middle. The NPC continue their daily work carrying boxes or hoeing small bits of land. Some passing by and giving friendly greetings.

Looking around, he saw it was all forests again, and some lakes. But also, a convenient wooden path for him to follow. Looking up, he saw the bright sun and blue sky. Mountains surrounding the Hamlet on one side, and green grass everywhere. It looked peaceful. Reminding him of planet Harvest… or… what once was Harvest.

"Anna, what is this place called?" he starts walking out of the Hamlet and following the wooden path.

"Coral. It is one, if not the only one, on this floor. To get your things repaired, I think you should go back to the 21st floor. It's cheaper there."

"Understood." Brandon keeps walking over the path. Spotting almost no beasts trying to attack him. Noting this, he breaks into a sprint. Uncovering as much as possible. Only encountering 3 wolves in 1 kilometer of running. "Only very few things trying to attack. That's convenient."

He kept sprinting for a good hour and reaches one edge of the map. But he had uncovered far more. Most of the landscape was dotted with lakes and each lake meant less ground to cover. So far, he had found 3 lakes, and one with a diameter of one kilometer. He never really looked at things beautiful. He knew what was beautiful, would be taken away at some time in his life. Like Harvest and his home planet. But this, was nice to be around.

"Enjoying the view?" Anna teases and chuckles over the speaker. Brandon sighs and looks at it. Standing still.

"Yes" was the simplest answer he could give. It was a beautiful sight. Maybe he would come back here sometime to relieve stress. "But now is not the time. We got daylight to spend."

"Right… just follow the wooden walkway and you should be alright." Anna keeps mapping all the new information she gets from Brandon and looks at it in confusion. "Don't you find it a bit strange that… this floor is so peaceful and almost cleansed from monsters? This could be a good spot for players to be. You know? For those who don't want to fight, or elderly."

"Fine, I'll give them a message about this floor when I am done with it." Brandon keeps walking at a steady 12 km/h clearing the floor rather easily due to the walkways. And what he didn't explore, was dense forest which with one glance, did not contain much or mountains with peaks and no structure.

"Brandon, I am willing to bet the Boss room is in… north-west direction." Anna chimes and starts putting down waypoints through undiscovered area. "It's where the mountains lower and the forests become less dense."

"Going" is all he responded and breaks into a sprint. "Anna, how far?"

"3 kilometers or something. Better save up your energy." As she says that, Brandon immediately slows down. Walking pace. Calm. "Can I join you?"

"Yes, roam free" Brandon takes off his helmet and gets blinded by the light a little. His helmet did darken everything. It took a couple of seconds for him to see again with Anna standing in front of him and snapping her finger before him.

"Come on, it can't be that bad!" Anna looked annoyed over her glasses and a pale skin nearly matching his. "And yes, I changed because I like doing that!"

"Get moving already." Brandon sighs and rubs his eyes as he can finally see. "Anna, are we sure we want to warn others of our presence? I think I like being ahead of everyone else for a change. Plus, we can get things done solo, which gives us new rewards. Including for you."

"I am well aware that it will halt our progress, but down there, a lot of people are dying, and here we are clearing floors without a problem."

"That would be better yes. For us to clear tougher floors and get stronger to support them later on. Or throw them into the deep right away with insufficient resources."

Anna was silent for a little while. Before agreeing to it and going silent. "We'll continue solo. Until they reach floor 20."

It is a pixelated mess around 'The Machine'. Cutting clean through nearly everything with its blade and pinning enemies to the wall with its bow. A golden decorated bow with blue string. And just by the sound of the arrows leaving the compound, you know that they hurt. His floor looked like it had been cleared 100%. Nothing left alive and all dungeons and labyrinths gone. The only thing that had not been killed yet was the boss. And that is where he was now.

"If I beat you. Will I stop dreaming, and once again wake up in the second dream?" it questions standing before the doors. "I wish Lotus was here to guide me through… or maybe even Ordis… Tenshin…" it sighs softly and pushes open the door. Waiting to be ambushed and jumped on by whatever lurks in the room.

The door closes behind it slowly and fires light up. Revealing a giant with two heads. Holding an axe and a sword. Its eyes fixed on the machine and making something similar to laughter. Charging at the machine with rage in its four eyes. What it didn't realize though, is that the machine was waiting for it. "Just a little closer dumbass." It muses materializing two pistols in his hands. As soon as the giant was close enough for the machine, it raises both guns and releases a flurry of bullets. 48 bullets from two pistols within 1 second. Each impacting on an eye and making the giant roar in pain.

Stumbling forward and trying to hit the machine with its axe it falls and tries to get up quickly. Being showered with bullets over and over again. The bullet steam never seemed to stop. Once it gets up, the bullet stream stops and the giant looks around in rage. Its eyes bleeding and vision hazy. Swinging around the sword and axe like mad. Hearing a clunk, the giant grins. He must have hit the player and listen carefully to where he was. Only to be surprised by something small hitting his head and going through. Making it look in the general direction. Only to see the player holding a golden white bow. With a thick blue string preparing another arrow.

Having had enough of this fight already, the giant charges at the player again and slams both his weapons down on the player. Who dodged in the nick of time and fires another arrow up at the giant.

"Nearly 75% of the first bar. 3 more to go and already running out of weapon durability." The machine looks at its bow, displaying a red bar and 10% left. His pistols had 15% left. The only thing that wasn't really broken was his sword. The Broken-war. "Come at me you big baby. I've faced dwarves scarier than you." The machine taunts and rushes towards the giant again.

It took him 20 minutes. 20 minutes and an almost broken bow and pistols. But he did it. The two-headed giant has been defeated and the machine sits in the middle of the room. Cross-legged and meditating. He needs this for a moment.

 _"_ _Congratulations! You defeated Two-headed Giant Floor 25!"_

 _"_ _Rewards: 5.000 currency, 5.000 XP, 1 skill point" "Last hit reward: Cape of endurance" "Solo clear reward: Vicious Frost, Scorch, Infected Clip, 10.000 Currency, 10.000 XP, 3 skill points, Forma."_

"A Forma? That's good." The machine grins. Materializing the piece of equipment in front of him. It looked like a golden puzzle piece with the same decorations as his bow. "Where to put you though? on me… my Paris… my vipers… or my Broken-war…" the machine toys with the puzzle piece in his hand. Laughing softly. "Of course my Paris. I want to get it to its full potential." And the machine materializes the 1% bow. Laying the Forma piece on top of the bow and watching it melt and make the bow more golden and recharging it to 100%. "Nice." Pulling the string once again and loading an arrow. Watching it soar through the sky and stick to a wall.

"I know I have you and all… but loneliness does creep up my back. Don't you think Nyx?" the machine softly chatters in his meditation. And the machine nods slowly. "We should get going to the next floor. And hope that it won't take too long to awake from this dream." The machine stands and walks to the doors. "Put the skill points into critical damage and equip the cloak. I think we might need it. And equip the loot we have gotten from the boss."

The machine doesn't hesitate for a moment and materializes the Infected clip. Pouring toxin into the arrow quiver. The scorch by putting a muzzle on the pistol's barrel. And the Vicious Frost by placing a gem into the sword hilt. Making the sword blade colder and make frozen vapor. "Alright… Nyx, open up that door for me will you?" it sounds and the machine just walks towards the giant closed door up the stairs to go to the next floor. A soft clank and thud with every step and breathing through the helmet. "Nyx… once we find an inn, you can rest. I will let Mag take over from there." The machine nods and places a foot on the door. The bow ready to fire with poison dripping from the arrow. With one swift thrust the doors fly open to reveal something similar to a giant cave. Only one light source, and that is some kind of artificial light on the top of the floor. "I do not think we are going to find an inn soon dear Nyx." The machine lazily nods and walks forth... the bow still ready to fire on whatever might jump. And unfortunately, it did. Some kind of imp jumped at the machine, only to be fired upwards by the sheer force of the arrow and pinning it to the roof.

"It's going to be another one of those floors…"

* * *

 **Sooo... I am so sorry this took forever. I just couldn't find the imagination and creativity anymore. and I had to play Warframe again to know where to go with 'The Machine'. If any are wondering. This is after the War Within.**

 **Sincerely, the voice you hear in your head when you are reading this.**


End file.
